The present invention relates to a method for securing the braking effect of a brake, in particular of a utility vehicle or commercial vehicle, in driving mode.
Brakes or brake pads have the problem of so-called “fading” or “glazing”. “Fading” of the brake pads means a significant drop of the friction coefficient when the wheel brakes are used not very often. This may occur when a tractor vehicle is equipped with a retarder, for example. As a consequence, the braking effect or braking power drops significantly and in part irreversibly. Consequently, in order to provide the desired braking power, the brake pads need to be replaced even though the wear limit has not yet been reached. Equally problematic is that the braking power, which was assumed when dimensioning the vehicle, is not available when needed. This is a problem in particular in the case of emergency brake applications or in connection with road handling control or driver assistance systems (active distance control etc.), since the control of such systems is also based on a sufficient vehicle retardation and, thus, braking power by the wheel brakes. The manufacturers of axles and braking systems only give recommendations to parametrize the braking systems, in particular the electronically controlled braking systems (EBS) accordingly. Moreover, the drivers are instructed to regularly actuate the wheel brakes. In practice, the recommendations for parametrizing lead in part to problems due to the highly different vehicle configurations and partly different legal provisions. The regular actuation of the brakes by the driver is not process safe due to the human influence.
Thus, the object underlying the invention is to provide a method for securing the braking effect of a brake, in particular of a commercial vehicle, in driving mode, which method maintains at a minimum level the level of the friction coefficient of friction pairs, in particular of brake pads or brake linings, over the entire service life of the friction partners, thus avoiding so-called “fading” or “glazing” of the brake pads.